Hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we're adding to our Chinese American food hack series with a recipe for a Taiwanese popcorn chicken based on a version that you can find at a cafe and snack stop called Quickly. Quickly is well known for their pearl milk tea or "boba nai cha," as well as their tasty bite sized popcorn chicken snacks.

I also thought I'd use this as an opportunity to experiment with a buttermilk fried chicken approach in my own "Woo Can Cook" version, which yielded some of the tastiest fried chicken that I have literally ever eaten. Hope you try it.

 

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS 

  • 3 medium chicken thighs

  • 1/4 cup corn starch

  • 1/4 cup AP flour

  • 1/4 cup soda water

  • 2 egg whites

  • vegetable oil

INGREDIENTS (marinade)

  • 4 tbsp soy sauce

  • 2 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

INGREDIENTS (finish)

  • 1/2 tsp white pepper

  • 1 tbsp onion powder

  • 1 tbsp garlic powder

  • 1 tbsp chili powder

PREP

  • DICE the chicken thighs into 1 inch pieces, then combine with all marinade ingredients, and marinate for 30 minutes or up to one hour

  • COMBINE corn starch, AP flour, soda water, and egg whites until a smooth batter forms, then add chicken to the batter and combine

  • ADD all finish ingredients to a mortar and pestle, and crush until a fine seasoning forms, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT 12 oz of vegetable oil in a wok to 375F, and add the chicken to the fryer 10-15 pieces at a time

  • REMOVE the chicken after 2 minutes, rest for 5 minutes, then add back to the fryer for an additional 5 minutes until golden brown and 165F internally

  • SEASON with the finishing seasoning immediately, and serve with skewers

 

tagged with woo can cook, quickly, popcorn chicken, taiwanese chicken, quickly boba, boba milk tea, boba nai cha